Angels and Temptations
by Soldier's Shadow
Summary: Inspired by Epyon7 and Shining Zephyr! After a close encounter with death at the hands of Sephiroth, Snake comes to realize he's not the monster he believed he was.


**AN: Welcome to 'Dark Angel" the first MGS4/FFVII crossover I've ever written. This fic draws inspiration from Epyon7 who has produced the incredibly awesome ****fic 'Crossfire' and is working on an even greater fic titled 'Age of Eternity'! She is on a role with all these amazing crossover fics. Another source of inspiration for ****this fic is Shining Zephyr who has recently created her ultimate piece of art, 'Hellfire'. **

**Also this fic serves as a test drive to FFVII's part of my own multi crossover fic, '**Heroes Musn't Stand Alone' **Sephiroth's role in particular. Readers and reviewers, ****enjoy!**

* * *

The air was thick with tension and anticipation. The rag tag team of Avalanche under Cloud Strife was raring and ready to go and rescue their new friend 'Old' Solid Snake. The soldier was currently being held captive by the greatest evil known to man outside of Satan himself, the one winged angel, Sephiroth. The angel was found to be holding the old soldier in the ruins of Midgar, where he awaited Avalanche's arrival.

The sole reason behind Sephiroth's kidnapping of Snake was because it was part of his collaboration with Liquid Ocelot, Snake's demented sibling. It was the angel's way of 'fulfilling his end of the bargain' for Liquid had provided him with a large PMC army to attack the city of Edge and also because Liquid's FROGS had seized the last remnants of Jenova from the Shinra organization. In exchange for all this, the Ocelot had requested that Sephiroth capture his brother and 'teach him a lesson he'll never forget'. Sephiroth agreed because he believed the mission would be as easy as crushing an ant.

The team of eight had split up into two groups; one consisting of Cait Sith, Vincent Valentine, Red XIII, and Yuffie to defend Edge and Snake's compatriots, Hal Emmerich and Sunny Gurlukovich. Yuffie had specifically requested to be in this group for she had an infatuation with Hal and she adored Sunny to pieces. Also part of this group was Shinra's Turks, Reno and Rude, for Rufus Shinra sought revenge against Liquid for his theft of Jenova.

The other group consisted of Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, and Cid Highwind. They knew the old soldier better than the others so they had set out to rescue him and because each of them held a personal relationship with Old Snake.

Cloud knew Snake well and understood the pain he endured for he had endured the same exact pain. That pain was the fact they both shared an enemy that refused to die. Cloud could easily remember the time Snake had told him about how he had thought he had killed his brother and greatest foe, Liquid Snake, only for him to be revived through another person. It instantly reminded the spiky blond of Kadaj and how Sephiroth was resurrected through him. Due to this single fact alone, the two began a blooming friendship that was shattered by the collaboration between Liquid and Sephiroth.

Barret also had a strong friendship with Old Snake. Ever since the arrival of Snake and his family in Edge, Barret had stated there was something he liked about Snake. When Snake began to align himself with Avalanche, he immediately became associated with Barret. Like Cloud, one single commonality made the two good friends. Snake had found out from Barret that his old friend Dyne possessed a similar story to Snake's old war buddy, Frank Jaegar. The two became like brothers after that, both vowing not to follow the fate that fell upon their old friends. Sephiroth kidnapping Snake was the equivalent to losing Marlene in Barret's eyes.

Cid saw Snake as a perfect person to associate with. They enjoyed each other's company and Cid was responsible for Snake's newfound love of flying because he had taken the soldier for a ride onboard his pride and joy, the airship Shera. As an added bonus to their friendship, Snake would always go to Cid for a cigarette if he were to ever run out and they were both indifferent towards their friends' attitudes towards their smoking habits. The loss of Snake made Cid feel very lonely, and he wanted more than anything to get him back.

The most devastated though by Snake's capture was Tifa. The Lockheart knew Snake better than all of her friends and as a result the two were very close. He had shared his life with her including his memories of Liquid, Big Boss and Eva and in turn she shared her own history with him such as the reason behind her hatred of Sephiroth and Shinra. Tifa's maternal love filled the place of Eva's, who was never there in the past to administer it. She would also comfort Snake whenever he'd have a nightmare about his brother, and in return Snake showered her with his affection. They were the epitome of happiness together until Sephiroth came into the picture and swiped Snake away from Tifa. Now the Lockheart resembled that of a mother who was just forced to give up her child.

The team traveled to Midgar's ruins onboard the Shera, but they had exited the ship a short distance away from Midgar in order to avoid early detection by Sephiroth. Once the city came into view, Cloud decided to address his friends, "He's there, I can feel it. Are you all ready for this, because Sephiroth's not going to hand Snake over to us without a fight."

"That long haired bastard's going down!" Barret declared determinedly as he readied his arm cannon.

"Let's go get Snake back!" Cid shouted loudly, to show he was more than ready for the coming battle.

They turned to Tifa, who was staring at Midgar's ruins, where the one winged angel awaited with Snake in his possession. Cloud took a step over to his friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Tifa, we're going to get him back."

Tifa shrugged Cloud's hand off of her shoulder, "What if he's already dead?" she asked in a low voice to her friends. This took the group by surprise because Tifa was never pessimistic about things like this, she was usually the one who kept everyone else's spirits up with her optimism. The bartender turned to the others, "Sephiroth's not a kind person, he wouldn't think twice about hurting Snake, let alone killing him," she choked out sadly.

"Tifa don't say things like that!" Barret snapped at his friend. He didn't want to believe Snake was already dead, the mere thought of it made him very angry, "He's not dead, he won't be until we see it for ourselves!"

"Yeah," Cid Highwind put in, his voice surprisingly calm, "There's no reason to be so negative".

"This is Sephiroth we're talking about!" Tifa snapped back at her friends, tears forming in her eyes, "He's a monster who kills people for his own sick pleasure!" she got to her knees, hot tears now flowing down her cheeks, "I want to Snake alive and well just as much as the rest of you, but at the same time I don't want to pretend he's alive and then it turns out he's dead! I-I don't think I can deal with that".

Cloud cast the sobbing bartender a sympathetic look. He got down to one knee beside Tifa, "You need to have faith Tifa. You can't just give into despair so easily," Tifa just continued to sob, Cloud sighed, "Tifa, do you think Snake would give up if he were in your position? No-no he wouldn't, he would risk everything to come and save you, even his own life".

Tifa's mind immediately drowned in deep thought. Cloud was right, Snake would risk his own life to save her and she had to do the same for him. She wouldn't give into despair and lose to Sephiroth, much like how she lost her father to the madman.

Cloud held his hand out to Tifa, "Come on, time's running out," the bartender accepted his offer and grasped his hand. She pulled herself up to her feet and wiped her eyes of any remaining tears.

"All right, all right, enough lollygagging, let's move out!" Barret waved for the others to follow him. Cid followed close behind Barret with Cloud next to him.

Tifa took one last look at Midgar's ruins. She gave it a look that showed her bitter steel determination to rescue Old Snake from hell's angel. Snake wasn't going to end up like her father, she was going to give it her all in order to prevent that fate from happening.

"_Please Snake…still be alive"._

* * *

Snake panted heavily as he lay in a bloody heap on the floor, while his opponent, Sephiroth, stood above him looking like he could continue fighting all day long. The man was not human; he had shattered Snake's defenses with ease, evaded most of his attacks, and hit with the strength of a raging rhinoceros. The old soldier couldn't find the strength to rise up and continue his fight with the angel, whenever he'd attempt to get up he would just fall back down onto the dirt.

The sound of thunder was heard and it began to rain on top of the warriors. Lightning flashed as Sephiroth approached the old soldier. Snake could feel his skin crawl as the one winged angel strided towards him, "You shouldn't bother trying to get up," Sephiroth remarked coldly as he watched his foe attempt to rise to his feet, only to crumple back down again. Sephiroth smirked at his foe's pittiful attempts to get up, "You truly are amazing old man."

Snake looked up at Sephiroth, his eyes burning with pure hatred, "How so?"

"You refuse to die," the angel simply replied, "Any normal man would've succumbed to death's cold embrace by now, but you, you still have the audacity to try and continue our battle. You must have something that's keeping you alive and providing you with strength," he pointed his large sword, the Masamune, at Snake's throat, "Tell me what it is, so I may take it away from you".

Snake could feel beads of sweat form on his temples due to the close proximity of the Masamune to his throat, but despite the powerful fear factor Sephiroth held over him, he wouldn't give in. His friends were his source of strength, but he couldn't let Sephiroth know that or else it may put their lives at risk. All of them had someone to protect; Barret had Marlene to watch over, Hal had to raise up Sunny, Sunny had her entire life ahead of her, and Cloud and Tifa had all those orphans to watch over.

The thought of Sephiroth harming the bartender just served to strengthen Snake's resolve to resist the angel. Tifa had told him about how her father was taken away from her by this man,which was the main reason behind her hatred of him. He didn't want her to suffer death at the hands of the man who killed her father in cold blood. He would resist the angel long enough until help arrived.

"Answer me Snake!" Sephiroth ordered, his patience waning away, "Tell me what you cherish most!"

"My strength comes naturally," the old soldier replied, his eyes locked on the sword at his throat, "I'm just one of a kind".

Sephiroth lowered the Masamune and pulled it away from Snake, causing the soldier to sigh in relief. Sephiroth turned his back to Snake and took several steps away from him, "Then you and I are one in the same".

"You and I are far from similar," Old Snake rasped as he got to his feet without falling this time. The thought of sneaking away while his captor's back was turned crossed his mind but he decided against it. Considering the condition he was in as a result of his earlier battle with Sephiroth, he wouldn't get very far and a futile escape attempt may only serve to anger the angel, prompting him to end his life in a heartbeat.

The angel chuckled coldly, "Deny it all you want but it is true," he turned around to face his captive, who was now standing up straight, "You and I are both naturally powerful and we both kill remorselessly, bringing lives to an end and their loved ones to tears. We are both monsters."

"That's a lie!" Snake spat, infuriated that Sephiroth thought that they were similar.

"Is it?" Sephiroth inquired, playing off of Snake's anger, "According to your brother, you have an extensive history of killing people and having a taste for it. He even said that you killed your very own father".

Snake gritted his teeth in anger; how dare Sephiroth bring up his act of patricide, something he didn't know a single thing about, "You don't know anything, so shut the fuck up, you son of a bitch!" Snake could barely control his anger, he felt his hands twitch, they wanted to wrap themselves around Sephiroth's throat and strangle the life out of him.

The one winged angel smiled cruelly at the soldier, "Liquid also told me how you just watched as he killed your mother, not making any attempt to save her. Only a truly sick person would allow something as horrible as that to happen," he was rewarded for his statement with a strong punch to the face from Snake.

"I said shut the fuck up!" Snake roared as he charged at a still reeling Sephiroth. Once he was close enough, Snake tackled the angel to the ground and relentlessly pummeled him.

Sephiroth pulled his leg up and kicked the older man off of him, sending Snake skidding across the muddy ground. He stood up and put his hand to his face where Snake had struck him. When he withdrew his hand there was blood on it, "You are the first person since Cloud to ever make me bleed," Sephiroth growled as he got into a stance.

Old Snake also got into a CQC stance, poised to take on the angel. Sephiroth struck first, he leaped into the air and attempted to bring his massive sword down on Snake, aiming to cut him in two. The old soldier avoided the attack by performing a dive roll to the side and he retaliated with an uppercut to Sephiroth's jaw, knocking him back a bit. Snake followed up by kicking the angel in the side, knocking him back even further.

The lightning flashed violently as soldier and swordsman fought it out to the death. Despite his immense combat prowess, Sephiroth found it very difficult to land his attacks on the surprisingly swift old man, while Snake landed painful hard hitting punches and kicks on him. The angel put both of his hands on his blade's hilt and delivered a vertical slash which cut Snake across the chest causing him to cry out in pain as he stumbled backwards. Taking advantage of this, Sephiroth charged at his foe and struck him in the stomach with the Masamune's hilt, sending him into a crumbled wall.

As Snake sat up against the wall he was just sent into, Sephiroth drove his sword into his shoulder, "I'm surprised, you lasted surprisingly long against me with only your bare hands. It's a shame that our battle didn't last longer," the angel of darkness commented on Snake's second defeat at his hands.

The old soldier closed his eyes and groaned in pain as Sephiroth ripped the Masamune's blade out of his shoulder. He looked up at his captor, who was wearing his usual cold smile. Sephiroth turned his head to the vague sound of feet running. He turned back to Snake, the icy smile still on his face, "He didn't say I needed to keep you alive," Sephiroth said, recalling Liquid's request as part of their alliance. The angel's one wing slowly wrapped around his form, "I suggest you give into death this time. It'll make things easier for your _friends"._

With that the angel of darkness vanished, leaving behind only scattered black feathers.

* * *

She heard him. She heard his cry of agony.

Worry and fear immediately came over Tifa upon hearing her lover's pained cry. The bartender looked around frantically for the source of the sound, "Snake!" she called out to her lover but gained no response.

"Tifa, what happened!?" Cloud asked the frenetic woman, who was whirling around in every direction. The blonde put his hands on his childhood friend's shoulders to stop her from moving, "What happened?" he repeated calmly.

"Its Snake, I heard him!" Tifa replied as she attempted to break away from Cloud's grip. Another pained cry was heard, "Let me go Cloud, Sephiroth's killing him!" her friend obeyed and released her, and almost immediately she bolted off to go find Snake.

Barret and Cid joined Cloud shortly after Tifa ran off, "Cloud, where's Tifa?" Barret asked.

"She heard Snake and she headed off to find him," Barret and Cid's eyes widened upon hearing what Cloud had just told them, "Come on, if Sephiroth's there she's going to need our help," Cloud said to his friends before heading off in the same direction Tifa went.

"Snake!" Tifa called out as she made her way through Midgar's ruins. She heard several weak groans, they sounded like they were near by. The bartender followed the groans to their source; she walked past a collapsed wall and on the other side she saw Old Snake lying against a wall while grasping his shoulder and with a pool of crimson blood in front of him. "SNAKE!" Tifa cried out as she vaulted over a piece of debris. When she reached Snake, she pulled his bloody, mud covered body into her arms.

Snake groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry but he was still able to identify his lover's cherubic face, "T-Tifa is that you?" Snake muttered as he reached up and placed his hand on Tifa's cheek.

Tifa nodded and placed her hand over her lover's, "Its going to be all right, I'm here now," Tifa examined his body and immediately her eyes locked onto a large narrow hole in Snake's shoulder that could only have been made by a sword, "Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he?"

Snake nodded his head weakly "H-He said…he'd take everything…away from me," the old bleeding soldier choked out. Although talking was excruciatingly painful, Snake continued, "He also said that I was just like him, a monster, I tried to deny it, but deep down I know he's right".

The bartender shook her head, "No, he's not right, you're not like him, how dare he even say something like that!" Tifa ranted appalled at what lies Sephiroth told her lover, "You are not a monster, you are a human being".

"He also told me that I should give into death. He said it'd make it easier for you and the others," Snake murmured as his eyes closed and he dropped his hand from his lover's face.

"No Snake, don't listen to him!" Tifa pleaded with the soldier. She didn't want to lose Snake to Sephiroth, it brought back painful memories of when her father was killed by the angel in Nibelheim. She stroked his white hair and held him close to her, "Don't go, please just hold on!"

Cloud, Barret and Cid soon entered the scene to see a crying Tifa cradling a bloody Snake. Tifa felt for a pulse but all she could find was a fading beat. Her heart suddenly stopped upon realizing that her lover was dying, "No, no! Stay with me Snake!"

Snake could see a bright light at the end of a long pitch black tunnel. It was so enticing; it was tempting him to enter its warmth. As he got closer to the light, he could hear his friends' voices getting vaguer and vaguer.

"I'll go get the Shera, just keep him alive until I get back!" Cid called to the others.

"Sephiroth, you sick fuck, you're gonna get it now!" Barret roared.

"Please Aerith, help us!" Cloud prayed to the deceased flower girl.

"Please Snake, don't go, don't leave me!" his beloved Tifa wept and begged as she pulled his body closer to her.

Snake turned back to the light and a voice called to him, "Come David, we're waiting for you," the voice sounded evil and ominous, nothing like the kind voices of heaven's angels. The voice sounded like one that would belong to the fallen angels of hell, tempting him to become a being of darkness. The urge to enter was strong but another force was stronger.

The stronger force was one telling him not to become like Sephiroth and to live life for what it was. It told him to repent, it told him to continue living"Don't go!" a voice told him. Snake turned around to see a maiden clad in a pink dress with brown hair, "It's not your time to go; you still have people that love you. There's still time for you to atone for your past sins," the maiden spoke, her voice resembling that of an angel's.

He felt himself being pulled away from the fallen angel's portal to hell and backwards out of the dark tunnel. The next thing he knew, he was staring at his crying lover. He slowly placed his arm on her back, "There's no need to cry, I'm not going anywhere".

Tifa's head jolted upwards from Snake's chest upon hearing his voice, "Snake!" she shrieked happily, her tears of sorrow turning into tears of joy. The Lockheart then proceeded to smother Snake with loving kisses, "Thank God, thank God!"

Cloud watched the happily as the lovers were reunited. He looked up at the rainy sky, "Thanks Aerith". He knew the flower girl was probably smiling as she watched over them from the heavens.

The dark angel's temptation was resisted as was the urge to enter the darkness. Snake was free, he was no dark angel, he was no Sephiroth. He was no longer the man he used to be, a soul living in denial, he was a human.

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**AN: Probably the crappiest ending I've ever done, but overall I think this fic came out pretty well.**

**Many moments in this fic were inspired by moments in other fic; the battle between Snake and Sephiroth was inspired by Zephyr's 'Hellfire', the moment with Snake ****and Tifa in the end was inspired by Epyon's 'Nightwish' and the idea of this fic came from my very own 'Anguish'.**

**Remember to leave a review, I'll reply to any and all reviews.**


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